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Whether you’ve had a broken ankle, or a torn ligament in your ankle or foot, or an extreme sprain; modified yoga can effectively strengthen weak ankles. Weak ankles need time to get stronger. The poses require some practice and some patience. If you proceed slowly, modified yoga will begin to strengthen your ankles. The most important thing is to go at your own pace and give yourself plenty of time to rest. We are not going to rush the healing recovery period, and the weight-bearing poses can be painful at first. The way to proceed is with frequent starts and stops. It starts and stops.
We’re going to do some weight-bearing poses and we’re going to do some ankle stretches. All of which will be uncomfortable as it heals. One of the first things I suggest for weak ankles are some wall stretches that will stretch the Achilles tendon and heel. Face the wall, put your hands on the wall at chest level. We begin in a lunge stretch with the left foot forward and the right foot back. Try to keep your right heel down as you push your weight forward into the lunge of your left leg. Release after about five seconds and either go back to the same side or switch sides. If you have changed feet, put your right foot forward and your left foot back. Put your left heel down if you can. Slowly push forward. Stop if the stretch is too much. Take a break and rotate your ankle in a circle. Switch sides and turn the other ankle. Do the same lunge against the wall, once again trying to keep your heel down. Do both sides.
The following pose can be done against a wall or while standing without holding on. Standing with your feet hip-width apart, push your heels up and count for about five to fifteen seconds. Low. Heels up one more time. Now, we’re going to push up on the balls of our feet for five to fifteen seconds, and we’re going to drop our heels halfway down before you’re done. Up, halfway down and up again. Go all the way down and rest. Again, bring your heels all the way up, lower your heels halfway, bring them all the way up, and lower them to rest on the floor.
You can hold on to the wall or the back of a chair for this exercise. Let’s try the exercise on one leg. Stand on one foot and let the other rest near or against the other leg. Press up on the heel of the foot you are standing on for a count of five to fifteen seconds and come down. Standing on one foot causes leverage. Lower and rotate the ankle. Stand on the other foot and press down on that heel for five to fifteen seconds. This strengthens the ankle, calf, and Achilles tendon.
For the next pose, you can hold on to the back of a chair if you’re concerned about balance. First stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Shift your weight to your left foot. See where the left big toe begins. Bring your right heel next to your left big toe, walk your heel about two inches in front of your left big toe, and then place your right heel on the ground to the right about twelve inches. Bend your left leg so that all your weight is on your left. With your right foot, place your heel down and lift your toes up. This is a dynamic stretch and you will feel it in your ankles, quadriceps, and calves. Take your right hand and slide it down your right leg until you can’t reach any further. If you can reach the toes of your right foot, hold for five to fifteen seconds. But hold your leg or foot where it feels comfortable.
If you can’t do it as described. A modification can be made with a leash. Put the strap on your right foot first, hold it and lean your body towards your right foot, as far as you can. Holding on to the leash is a good modification if you are not too flexible or concerned about balance. This provides good leverage and is a pose that can be done safely on a leash.
Now we change. If you are holding on to a chair, switch hands. Stay away from meat. Stand on both feet, shift all your weight to the right foot. Move the left heel past the big toe of the right foot two inches and slide it approximately twelve inches to the left. Put your left heel down and lift your toes up. Slide your left hand down as far as you can reach. Hold the pose for five to fifteen seconds. Release.
After our modified yoga poses, if your ankles, feet or legs hurt. Rest your feet, support your feet and legs, and ice your ankles if needed. Have a little patience. It takes time to heal, and getting used to bearing weight again takes some practice. But if you continue with your daily modified yoga poses, you’ll start to feel strong again. Modified yoga can be very effective, but don’t rush the process. You will get stronger, just allow yourself patience and accept that it is okay to be exactly where you are right now. Nothing else. You will get there.